Sydney ushers in New Year with dazzling tribute to late stars of 2016

Australia has ushered in the new year with a spectacular fireworks show in Sydney that paid tribute to the late stars of 2016 in a light display depicting space odysseys, candy canes and purple rain. Fireworks in the shape of the planet Saturn exploded over Sydney’s harbour at midnight local time (1300 GMT on Saturday), […]

Australia has ushered in the new year with a spectacular fireworks show in Sydney that paid tribute to the late stars of 2016 in a light display depicting space odysseys, candy canes and purple rain.

Fireworks in the shape of the planet Saturn exploded over Sydney’s harbour at midnight local time (1300 GMT on Saturday), honouring the late musician David Bowie to mark the city’s spectacular New Year’s Eve celebration.

To the tune of Bowie’s Space Oddity, the fireworks created a moment never seen before – bright red fireworks exploding in the shape of spaceships over Sydney.

The late actor Gene Wilder also received a tribute with the tune of Willy Wonka playing as the Sydney Harbour Bridge erupted with candy-coloured fireworks.

Millions of people around the harbour gasped in wonder as the 12 minute firework extravaganza marked the start of 2017.

Anna Fassbinder, 18, from Cologne said it took her breath away. "It was incredible, they did things with fireworks I didn’t think were possible," she told dpa.

Up to a billion people around the world were expected to share Sydney’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks via live streams on Facebook and YouTube.

Earlier Saturday, more than a million people around Sydney’s harbour foreshore cheered as purple fireworks rained down from the Harbour Bridge to the sounds of Prince’s hit "Purple Rain."

The tribute was part of a 9pm matinee that acted as a prelude to the main fireworks extravaganza and allowed children to join the celebrations without having to stay up until midnight.

In anticipation of the annual spectacle, Aboriginal dancers had performed a Welcome to Country dance in front of the Opera House.

Advance planning was required for those wanting to watch the event with their own eyes. The most sought-after vistas from peninsulas around Sydney’s Opera House are now ticketed, and hundreds slept out in queues overnight to get the best spots when gates opened on Saturday morning.

In other areas around the harbour, people started setting up tents on Friday, before dawn.

Around one and a half million people were expected to pack the Australian city’s harbour area to see 7 million Australian dollars (5.04 million US dollars) worth of fireworks go up in smoke.

Organizers had promised the biggest show ever with more than 100,000 fireworks.

Police have assured the public there are no known terrorist threats to the festivities, but for the first time buses will be used to block roads leading to the pedestrian zones to prevent truck attacks such as those in Berlin and Nice.

In New Zealand, one of the first countries to bring in the New Year, Max Key, the son of the former prime minister John Key, will DJ as five minutes of fireworks go up from Auckland’s Sky Tower.

The Pacific country’s capital Wellington will also put on fireworks and music at an inner city lagoon.

In Thailand, fireworks have been banned from New Year’s celebrations after the government decreed a one-year mourning period for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in October aged 88.

But as the year ticks over, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to jointly sing a new year song composed by Bhumibol himself, followed by the royal anthem.

In Kuala Lumpur, places like the iconic Merdeka Square are expect to attract thousands to usher in 2017 with traditional dances, singing and a marching band.

Others in the Malaysian capital will spend New Year’s Eve at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), with fireworks reflected in the already dazzling Petronas Twin Towers.

For a handful of tiny Pacific nations, the bells to mark the start of 2017 had long chimed by the time Sydney joined in the fun. Samoa, for example, celebrated the new year at midnight local time (1000 GMT), 19 hours before revellers were set to do the same in New York. (DPA)